A playoff berth slipped further out of the Fire's grasp Saturday night in a 1-0 loss to the Sounders.
Needing a victory to keep their dwindling playoff prospects afloat, Seattle forward Blaise Nkufo instead sank them with a late goal at Toyota Park.
"We tried to get the win," Fire coach Carlos de los Cobos said. "And unfortunately at the end we had a mistake … We're still making mistakes."
The Fire (6-10-8, 26 points) saw their winless streak reach seven as they fell 11 points out of the final MLS playoff spot with only six games to play. Seattle (11-9-6, 39 points) moved closer to its own berth with just four games left.
In the 88th minute, Nkufo maneuvered to Fire goalie Sean Johnson's right as defender C.J. Brown leaped to try to stop an anticipated shot. Brown fell and Nkufo bounced a shot that deflected off Brown's leg and into the net.
The Fire now have gone 362 minutes without a goal, a streak now covering four-plus games.
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